Wales has an ageing workforce and society. A third of the workforce will be aged over 55 or 50 in the next five years. It’s a striking figure. However, investment in skills and adult education is heavily focused on young adults. This has been to the detriment of people aged 25 and over. In future, businesses will need even more workforce with higher skills, and new technologies will increase that demand. Yet, participation in lifelong learning is in decline. We need an adult education system that benefits our economy and boosts research. We need a system that recognises adults’ needs to study flexibly and provides the opportunity to do so.

The demand for highly skilled employees in the UK economy as a whole is increasing. According to the Confederation of British Industry, more than three quarters of businesses expect to have more job openings for people with higher skill levels over the coming years. But, again, according to the CBI, 53 per cent of Welsh firms feel that they will not be able to source the skilled employees they need to meet future demand. Evidence clearly shows that three quarters of people in low-paid work are still in low-paid work 10 years later. So, the trend is clear: businesses require, and will in future require, a more highly skilled workforce.

The emergence of new technologies is already having a profound impact on the job market on the skills needed by tomorrow’s workforce. A new approach to upskilling is required to ensure both that future demand is met and that businesses across Wales are able to take advantage of these new technologies. Sadly, the trend across Wales is for significantly fewer people to be involved in programmes that will help them add to their skills. Between 2015 and 2016 the number of adult learners fell by more than 23,000. The longer term decline is even more concerning. Wales saw a 25 per cent reduction in the number of adults participating in learning programmes between 2012 and 2016. In contrast, the UK Government has made significant progress in supporting the private sector to boost upskilling.

The recent industrial strategy helped to create the right framework to incentivise businesses to invest in the skills base of their workforce. The UK Government’s strategy prioritises the Government working with qualification providers and learning institutions. This joint approach is working to ensure new courses are developed to enable part-time and distance learners to participate, and it appeals more to those already in the workforce looking to reskill or upskill. The strategy recognises that, to date, different organisations have identified skill needs in their own areas. However, no single organisation has been charged with identifying emerging future skills trends. The UK Government is therefore working towards a single joined-up authoritative view of the skills gap faced by the UK now and in the future. They’re assessing changes to the costs people face in accessing learning to make them less daunting. But first and foremost, the strategy recognises that high-growth sectors of the economy require corresponding high skill sets. It outlines measures to ensure that firms are able to contribute more to increasing the level of skills throughout the workforce.

Presiding Officer, Wales needs this sort of industrial vision to ensure we can take full advantage of the new technologies and ways of working that will transform the Welsh workplace. We should teach the world, not learn from the world. There are certain areas, such concepts as adult learning, readiness for learning, orientation and motivation for learning—all these are motivation for our youngsters and senior citizens and men and women together. We are double in force and we can surely transform our economy, health and well-being, which were mentioned earlier. It can certainly help to get our senior people well educated and promote second learning in the workplace in this country. Thank you.